


The Ruby Slippers Pinch

by Syntaniel



Category: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-07
Updated: 2017-11-07
Packaged: 2019-01-30 19:32:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12659961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Syntaniel/pseuds/Syntaniel
Summary: A what if things were worse when Jason was taken...Sometimes, it's not as easy as just getting home.





	The Ruby Slippers Pinch

 

            It wasn’t enough. Jason knew it down to his core. It was just about the only thing he knew at this point. But everything he’d tried, all the help his friends had tried to give him, it wasn’t enough. He’d known pain before – as leader of the Power Rangers it had been inevitable – and if it had just been the physical pain he could have dealt with it better. But the mental torture had been so much more insidious and the pain from that, from flinching at the sight of the juice shop and a wariness at the sight of his closest friends that he couldn’t stop… That was so much worse. When the Machine Empire had taken him and tortured him, they had done their job far too well. Three weeks he’d been home, home and safe, or as safe as any Ranger (even an ex Ranger) could be, but…

  


            “It’s not enough, is it?”

  


            Jason didn’t turn from the window even though the voice echoed his innermost thoughts. The voice was familiar even if recent memories had his hands turning white on his arms. He refused to fear that voice.

  


            Tommy walked up beside him. His dark eyes were pained as he looked at Jason peripherally. He wanted to touch him, just to comfort him, but he was afraid. Afraid to see that flash of fear, however brief, afraid to cause him pain. So Tommy shoved his hands into his pockets and surpressed the dread that filled him when Jason shook his head. “What do you want to do?”

  


            An attempt at a deep breath aborted itself from pain as Jason tried to respond, “I can’t stay here. Not right now.” His arms moved to cradle broken ribs that still hadn't healed.

  


            Tommy’s insides turned cold at his words, “Where… where are you going?” He was proud – his voice didn’t waver.

  


            Jason had to try to swallow a few times before he could and then he spoke, “I talked to Zordon. He’s been contacted with a  request for a Power Ranger to help with peace talks. It’s a planet called Alion and they need a nuetral figure. I won’t need my powers, just the residue. I have experience with peace talks and…”

  


            “It’s away.” Tommy’s voice was rough even to his own ears. Away, he could understand, after all he’d run away a few times himself, but another planet?

  


            “It’s more than just away. It’s something to _do_. Something important.” Jason’s agonized dark eyes closed tight. “It’s all I can think of Tommy.”

  


             _Can I come?_ But Tommy couldn’t ask that; he knew he wouldn’t be able to handle it if the answer was no. “Is it dangerous?”

  


            Even though he wanted to, Jason couldn’t lie to his friend, “Enough. Not so much that I’d need a team though.”

  


            Tommy wasn’t sure he could still breathe. “When…” his voice broke, _please god let it be when,_ “When will you come back?” So much fear… of so many things… It felt so wrong.

  


            The sigh Jason finally released caused pain to crease his face, “When the peace talks are over. When this place can be _home_ again… When I can.”

  


            And Tommy’s stomach turned and twisted at the emotions in that voice. Jason hadn’t told them, hadn’t told _him_ , what happened but Tommy knew Jason better than anyone. He had seen the flinches and the pain and he’d seen firsthand the injuries that were still haunting him, healing so slowly because the damage was so great. He couldn’t speak. He didn’t want this, he didn’t want Jason out of his sight at all anymore. He didn’t care what it meant to his fiancee or his life, he needed Jason. Except… Jason needed this. It sounded so wrong, to send Jason away from his home and his friends when he needed to heal so badly but the damage…

            Jason seemed to take his silence as a protest and he couldn’t help the words that spilled out, trying to make Tommy understand. He couldn’t leave unless Tommy understood. “You saw my back, Tommy…” His voice was deep as an abyss yet with no more emotion than stone. “I don’t remember clearly what happened. I can remember when they whipped me because the pain was sharper than the beatings. They kept my eyes open with something and it burned. I knew it when they ripped off my fingernails… the pins… the energy blasts… the…” He tried to breathe but it felt aborted and he couldn't look at Tommy, at anything really, through the tears in his eyes. “They showed me things, Tommy. Such horrible things with my friends and my family and every place that I call home…” _And you, but even they couldn’t do that with you, it was those that kept me sane, but I can’t tell you that._ “I can’t… stay here like this. I can’t…”

  


            Oh gods the damage… Tommy couldn’t swallow for the rage that choked him. Oh, he would make sure the Empire paid for this. He would hunt down the remnants and personally ensure that Jason was never threatened by them again. “All right.” He finally choked out. “I understand. If this is what you need… But if you need help… if… when you want to come home… how…?”

 

            Jason tilted his head and on the dresser there was a small device that looked suspiciously like an old fashioned palm pilot. “It’s a text communicator. Portable email more or less. It’s connected through the Morphin grid. You can write me through that. You can always reach me and I’ll answer when I can.”

 

            If it could cure the cracks in Jason’s voice, if it could make him smile again, then Tommy could do this. He would have to do this. “Just…” Tommy had to close his eyes for a moment before he could bear to look at Jason again. “Are you sure?”

  


            And Jason knew if he said yes, Tommy would drop it, would accept it, help him pack even – so long as Jason said yes. “I’m sure that we’ve tried everything else. And I’m sure we can’t go on this way. I can’t do this to you, to everyone and… I can’t do it to me.” He turned to look Tommy in the eyes. “So as far as it goes, I’m sure.”

  


            Tommy nodded and, with one shuddering breath, all traces of pain dissappeared behind a nuetral mask, “All right then. What do you want to take?”

  


            Some of the tension drained out of Jason’s face as he nodded in gratitude, “Thank you.”

  


 

            “So he got there okay?” Kat’s voice was geniunely concerned as Tommy walked in.

  


            The current Red Ranger nodded, his face unreadable. “Yeah. The message was pretty short but both delegations met him and he was good.”

  


            “You told the others?”

  


            Tommy sat down wearily, “I called, Zack; he said he’d pass the word.”

  


            Kat shook her golden head as she sat down, and took his unresponsive hand. “I still can’t believe so many of the original rangers have come back to Angel Grove.”

 

            Something like a shadow of a smile crossed his face, “When Jason was… taken, I called them. And when we got him back…” His fists clenched in his lap, “Zack said it reminded him how far away they’d gotten. And he didn’t like it. The others pretty much felt the same. Even Billy’s on his way back. Apparently they found something that would stave off the aging and his wife wants to see earth.”

  


            “All for Jason…” Kat’s voice was wondering and it made Tommy frown.

  


            “Because of Jason maybe, but that was only the catalyst. You’ve been part of the team, you remember that loyalty. And you’ve got to remember, they were the first. There hadn’t been Rangers in ages and they didn’t have the history. They only had what was in themselves. No precedents, no former battles to study, just them. They were so close. And Jason… he led them. I was afraid of that closeness when I was first… But he invited me in - hell, he dragged me in kicking and screaming.” He shook his head. “It was the team that called them, Jason just reminded of the team.”

  


            Kat thought about that a second and then another thought that she hadn’t been able to avoid pressed its way to the front of her mind, “Zack and… Trini? were here. Billy and Kim are both on their way. He had you. And any of the rest of us were more than willing to help and yet…”

  


            Tommy wouldn’t look at her though his eyes burned, “Gods, Kat, what they did to him… I don’t know how he survived. I don’t think I could have but oh god what they did to him…” The emotion in his voice held her frozen in shock. “I will pay them back for that. For every pain he’s suffered, for everything they did to him… I’m going to destroy them.”

  


     And the dead certainty in his voice made her shiver. She didn’t doubt a word.

  


 

     Jason was bone tired. This was very little like the peace talks he’d been at on Earth, this was literally sueing for peace between two very well armed camps. Such vastly different cultures and they’d been fighting so long… He was breaking up fights every day as well as hammering order into the talks. It was hard – especially since the Alions were built for more strength and stamina than the average human - but it was serving its purpose. He fell into his cot when he had time to sleep and he slept without dreams. His wounds were healing, maybe not quickly but they were healing, and his memories of his friends were losing some of their pain.

 

     His instincts had been right. There were things good hard work could do that all the counseling in the world couldn’t touch. _Soon,_ he told images of his friends in his minds. _Soon,_ he told the flashing dark eyes that followed him. _Don’t worry, Tommy. I think it’s working. Soon._ He fell asleep on that thought, too tired to dream, trying hard to avoid the feeling of impending dread that wanted to settle on his chest.

  


 

     “Jase…” Tommy murmmered as he awoke from what had been a sound sleep. Kat lay curled on her side, sleeping soundly. and he slipped out of the bed as quietly so as not to disturb her. He wandered around the apartment for a bit, feeling lost and restless, the shapes of his familiar furniture looming strange and foreign in the dark. Wishing fleetingly that he could talk to Jason, he fingered the text messanger a few times but there weren’t any words for what he wanted to say; he just wanted to hear Jason.

  


     Something was wrong, something had been wrong for ages. Since Jason had been taken, Tommy had been waking up with this feeling of wrongness scraping across his nerves. It was only allayed by having Jason with him, in reach, and knowing, knowing in a way that text couldn’t give him, that he was safe. Without Jason to call or to see the feeling couldn’t, wouldn’t, abate and Tommy  couldn’t stand it. Grabbing his communicator with fingers that turned white from the grip, he transported himself to the one place where there could be news.

  


 

     “Good evening, Tommy.” Zordon’s voice held no surprise at the random appearance of the current red ranger. “I was about to contact you.”

  


     “What happened to Jason?” Tommy’s response was instantaneous.

  


     Zordon was nonplussed for only a moment but he shook it off and looked down gently. “We’ve just received word that the peace talks on Alion have failed. An assasination attempt was thwarted by the former Red Ranger but the talks could not be salvaged. Alion is now at war.”

  


     White as his old costume, Tommy lunged to a console, “Jason!”

 

     “Jason has decided not to return. He is working with a coalition force of sorts to try and get peace talks started again or at least to limit the damage caused by the two sides. Communications shall likely be more sparse but he is all right.”

  


     Tommy’s knees wobbled and deserted him and he only barely made it to the edge of the command platform before he had to sit. “War… Gods…”

  


     “Have faith, Tommy. He is very strong.”

  


     Leaning his head against the side of a console. “I do have faith in him. But a war… and he was already so… damaged. They hurt him so much, Zordon… And now… without powers even…”

  


     “Not quite without.” Zordon’s voice cut through Tommy’s devestation, “It appears the Alions have a procedure which can balance the powers within him. It may allow Jason to again hold his original powers. I have already sent the Power coin and I expect the next message shall bear news of the attempt.”

  


     “Jason… can get his powers back?…” The world was upside down, Tommy couldn’t anchor anything, not sight or sound… “At what cost? What risk? He’s never careful… Not of himself. Oh gods…” He breathed slowly and deeply as he could until the room stabilized as best as he could. “Keep… keep me informed, Zordon.” He still had to choke it out. “Please.”

  


     “Of course. Any communication shall be instantly relayed to your hand console.”

 

     “Can I…” Tommy’s voice trailed off but the hope in his eyes was impossibly broken.

  


     “You are needed here, Red Ranger.” The voice was gentle but implacable.

  


     Eyes closing, Tommy’s head bowed in defeat. “All right, Zordon.” _Be safe Jason. I don’t care if it costs a planet just be safe._ He teleported home and collapsed on the couch. The dull sheen of the text messanger caught his eye and then his hand was holding it without memory of reaching. Fingers trembling over the keypad, he frantically struggled to find words, any words, anything to reach Jason. To touch him even if only with words… to contact…

  


     But just like before he’d gone off into the night, there was nothing. His breath came painfully dry, gasps that burned in his throat, as he curled bodily around the hand console and tried to sleep.

  


 

     “You do realize, ranger, that we can offer no guarantees. We had to improvise this facility and it is... not perfect”

  


     Jason looked at the mechanical body tube in front of him, a mass of patched and molded metal and throbbing wires, and nodded curtly, “I understand.”

  


     The old Alion rebel leader, Ischion, stood nearby and spoke in a firm voice, “Were you not in such good base physical condition, I would not even allow such an attempt.”

 

     “Yes, you would.” Jason’s voice held steel that had once drove on even in the darkest fights. “You need this. You need me with full powers or else you have no chance of even slight success. Your plans depend on it.”

  


     Ischion’s stony face gave way to grudging admiration, “Perhaps you are right, Ranger.”

  


     Jason nodded in acknowledgement and climbed into the tube. “Get it over with.”

  


     The grudging admiration glinted again at the Ranger’s bravery but Ischion said nothing, only nodded to his doctor to begin. Admiration would turn into respect quickly enough – Jason would never scream.

  


     “What’s wrong? Didn’t you hear from Jason?”

  


     Tommy didn’t move from the couch as Kat came into the room but nodded curtly in response. His arm was flung over his eyes and his hair hung loose around his shoulders.

     

     “Bad news?” Kat’s voice went instantly soft in conciliation and she started to reach out to him.

 

     The hand console was tossed to her without a word and Kat looked down, reading quickly. _“It worked. Powers restored. Jason.”_ Her delicate brow furrowed, “What’s wrong with this? Sounds like great news to me!”

  


     Dark eyes closed, “He’s hurt.”

     “What?” The disbelief made it almost a gasp.

     “That message. Four words. Four words.” Tommy's voice was like stone.

  


     Kat tried to make allowances. “Maybe he’s just busy. There has to be so much going on…”

  


     Tommy shook his head almost violently without moving his arm, “If he was all right, Jason would have said he was all right. He’d know I’d want that more than I care about any procedure. If he was fine, he would have said so.”

  


     “He could just be tired.” Her voice was tired and low but Tommy couldn’t hear it. Her blue eyes saw too much and he refused to meet them. She fingered the console and he heard her take a breath. He waited with his eyes steadfastly closed. But the moment passed and she didn’t speak. She set the messanger down quietly, he heard only the slightest contact, but he felt her leave the room right after. The air seemed different after she left.

  


     An apology stuck in his throat and he resisted the urge to call  her back because he knew there was nothing to say…

  


 

     “You shouldn’t be up.”

  


     Jason snorted and then winced as it sent pain burning through his battered chest. “As if that makes a difference.” He waved a white gloved hand over a table strewn with maps and communiques then rested the hand on his helmet before it could shake. “There’s no time. As we speak there five different battles going on and they need to be stopped. People are dying and you don’t have the power to lead them and I don’t have the knowledge to improvise. We need to be together to plan if we're to make any difference and you are well aware of that fact.”

 

     “You are… harder than I expected you would be.” There was a question in the statement that showed on Ischion’s normally expressionless face as he joined Jason at the table. His silver hair glinted in the light, the only tangible evidence of his 300 years in his position. His uniform was plain, by choice, Jason was sure. “In my experience, Rangers tend to be a different lot. Tough and usually a force to be reckoned with but not so hard as you are now. They tend to be rather unworldly, so to speak. You have in you that which I usually see only in a warrior of long experience or...” Again his voice trailed off in a question and this time Jason turned to face him.

 

     His eyes were dark and unfathomable but his voice was very clear, “You know my people don’t live hundreds of years like you do. And I suspect you've guessed the answer to your question. But to have it clear, and so this never comes up again, I was... taken by our enemy. It took my friends a bit of time to retrieve me. But I survived. I’m sure you understand without further detail.” It was an ending layered with threat and Ischion nodded curtly his understanding while covering his surprise.

  


     “Yes.” They poured over the maps for a few moments in silence when Ischion remarked, “You were a good choice, Red Ranger.”

  


            An almost bitter smile crossed over Jason’s face. "The only choice at that."

 

         The next months would pass in a blur for Jason. One offensive after another, gathering more to their cause, rebuilding trust and faith in people who had little to start with. It was grueling work. But it was working. His and Ischion's forces gained ground, taking back the planet from those whose petty feuds would tear it apart. Ischion came to a grudging respect for his understanding of tactics and strategies and he learned how to sleep again without the threat of screaming. 

     And he healed. It wasn't perfect. No amount of stretching the scar tissue would give him back the full mobility of his back, but he was stronger than he'd ever been and he could fight. He proved it again and again - throwing himself into the breach and leading from the front despite the protests of the Alion soldiers. Earning new scars. They paid for every inch gained in blood but gain it they did. And as they went, they converted more and more people to their side. 

     At the end of the day, Jason would stumble back to his tent. He'd review whatever maps or plans were set for the following day and plan tactics for hundreds rather than just 6. And without fail, he'd text Tommy. Not about the war, never about the war, but about the simpler things.

_Y_ _ou should have seen the sun set today. The colors from all three suns were blinding._

_It's so hot here. Hotter than the desert. I miss the ocean though._

_It's still so strange to see two moons in the sky. I wish I could show you them._

A dozen times, he'd typed out the words, _I miss you_ , but he never pressed send. 

     Tommy seemed to take his cues in kind and returned Jason's descriptions of the far off world with news from home. If he had ulterior motives in it, he never said. 

      _Billy blew up the lab again. Fortunately not himself but the whole lab's toast._

_I caught Zach with a bunch of roses and he nearly jumped off a dock to try and avoid me._

_Trini got that new job she'd wanted. I'm pretty sure if we don't keep an eye on her, she's going to end up ruling the world._

_Kim was wearing a rose in her hair the other day. It's pretty cute watching them try to avoid admitting it._

_I miss you._  Tommy deleted the last text before it could send. He looked around his quiet apartment - echoing still with the memory of raised voices and shattering glass - and started again. _Kat's gone._

By some fluke, he must have gotten the time change right for a change because he had a response in seconds. _Are you all right? What happened?_

Tommy stared at the communicator for a long minute. What happened? Nothing he could say to Jason. _I'm all right. It was a long time coming. We just... grew apart._ And it was true, as far as it went. Things had been good and then they had gone on and as time went on, it became abundantly clear to them both that Kat was not his first priority. Or even his second. She deserved better. 

      _I'm so sorry._

     Despite the brief text, Tommy could almost feel Jason's sympathy from across a galaxy. If Jason were there, he knew, despite the pain that he'd been in before he'd left, there would have been a hug. A hug and some beers and anything else Tommy needed. He wanted to ask Jason to come home. Wanted it more than he wanted his next breath. Even if other things were impossible dreams, he would be content to have Jason home and safe. Or at least within reach so they could face danger together. But he couldn't ask Jason that. Jason would be back when he was ready, he had to trust in that. _I'll be okay._

____

Just shy of two years after Jason had been rescued from the Machine Empire, Alion was finally liberated. The peace talks which had been interrupted by war went smoothly in the aftermath - the whole population softened by the bludgeoning of tragedy and violence. Jason was a war hero and that considerable reputation gave him the power to push reasonable treaties through. Everyone compromised in the end but they could live with the result and that was the important thing - that they live. And Jason could go home. 

     Ischion was there to see him off when the day came. The old battlehorse general had grown older over two years of warfare but pride and respect straightened his spine. "We can never thank you enough, Red Ranger." His hands moved in the complicated gesture that passed for their salute and Jason grinned, ignoring all propriety to give the older alien a hug. 

     "You've given me as much as I've given you, Ischion. I will always remember this." The grin turned rueful as he stepped back, "It's going to be strange to go to sleep with only one moon watching over me."

     "You will always be welcome here, Jason." The almost paternal pride that warmed his voice made him seem more human and Jason held on to that image as he disappeared. 

__

 

"Welcome home, Red Ranger!" Zordon's voice was echoing in his ear even before he'd fully materialized and it warmed him. Alpha was right behind him, tutting away and rolling up as if to make sure he was real. 

 

"Hey, Zordon." If he sounded rather breathless, he was going to blame it on his lungs reconstructing themselves as he stepped into the command center. 

 

"Oh it's good to see you again, Jason," Alpha tittered. "And good to see you in uniform too." His mechanical hand rubbed over Jason's sleeve softly. Jason grinned down at him and it was so like his old grin that Alpha's lights blinked crazily in joy. "You should have let us tell the others," he chided. 

 

Jason shook his head, eyes crinkling at the corners, "I had to be sure everything went well on my end first, Alpha. Didn't want to get everyone's hopes up and disappoint."

 

"You are never a disappointment, Jason." Zordon's voice was warm and kind. It reminded him distantly of Ischion. 

 

Footsteps echoed in the corridor as someone approached the command center and a much missed voice called out absently, "Zordon, I know I said I wouldn't bother you..." Tommy's voice cut off completely as he rounded the corner and skidded to a stop.

 

For a long moment, Jason wasn't even sure he was breathing, dark eyes locked on him with an intensity that had him ducking his head. He wanted to say something but suddenly all the words deserted him. What do you say after two years? 

 

It was Tommy who recovered first, an expression of wonder coming over his face as he came over. Moving slowly and telegraphing the whole way, he raised his hand to Jason's arm, as if to reassure himself that Jason was real. When Jason doesn't flinch away, when he in fact smiles at him, he can feel tears come to his eyes as he pulled the other man into a hug. 

 

This, this finally felt like coming home.

 

 


End file.
